Kotla reactions

Former India batsman Abbas Ali Baig feels that Delhi's future as an international venue will be at stake after today's fiasco.

"It is an extremely sad and disappointing happening. The DDCA should have ensured that the pitch was well prepared to host an international match. I feel Delhi's future as an international venue is at stake. There is no excuse for preparing such a pitch," he said.

Ex-India all-rounder Madan Lal felt the pitch fiasco has played spoilsport to India's 3-1 series win over Sri Lanka.

"It is a very serious issue and all the joy for the 3-1 series win has been rendered of no use," he said.

Demanding strong action against DDCA, ex-India stumper Kiran More said the incident has brought a bad name to the country.

"Strong action should be taken against DDCA and explanation sought from the curator. It has brought a bad name to India," he said.

Former BCCI Pitch Committee chief Venkat Sundaram said DDCA should have staged some matches on the strip before holding the one-dayer.

"They (DDCA) should have staged some cricket match on this pitch because more you play on it the pitch settles down. If you would have played two-three matches especially Ranji Trophy matches they would have analyzed the pitch and rectified the drawbacks."

Former India batsman Ajay Jadeja gave a completely different view, saying that he did not feel the pitch so bad as to warrant abandonment of the match.

"I am a little surprised that the match was abandoned. I don't think the pitch was that bad so as to warrant an abandonment of the match," he said.

"You could have decided to abandon the match after five overs or so, that is logical. But after playing 23 overs how can you say that the pitch was not fit to play on," he added.

Former Test batsman Chandu Borde wondered why no domestic match was played on the newly laid turf to assess the nature of the track.

"This is unfortunate to abandon an international match due to poor wicket. Such wickets are very harmful to the players. Before playing on a newly laid wicket some domestic matches should be played on it so that any defects, if there are any, can be rectified," Borde said from Pune.

"Before the match, the experts like the match referee and match observer must have had a look at this wicket. How did they certify it to be playable?," he asked.